§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State of Defence, pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South,Official Report, 13 January, column 782 (1) at what level records are kept of the submissions for redress of complaint by service men; what categorisation of complaints is made; whether a report is prepared of the number of complaints made in each category; and what information is required centrally;
(2) what effort would be required to obtain from existing records the number of submissions for redress of complaint relating to racial discriminniation or abuse; what would be the cost; if he will provide as much information as is accessible; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NeubertSubmissions for redress of grievance are retained as permanent records on the individual's service documents. Complaints may be made orally or in writing and are normally resolved at unit level. Commanding officers have a duty to investigate all complaints seeking redress and if the complainant is dissatisfied with the decision the rules provide for the complaint to be submitted to each subsequent level in the chain of command and ultimately to the service boards. Complaints investigated by the special investigations branch are categorised according to the nature of the offence (assault, theft, etc).
Central records are kept only of cases submitted to the service boards. To obtain the information requested by the right hon. Gentleman would involve disproportionate cost, requiring individual returns from many thousands of service establishments world wide of cases settled at unit level.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a table listing for(a) Wales, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) The Federal Republic of Germany, (e) Cyprus and (f) the Falkland Islands the number of complaints received in 1988 by his Department concerning the low flying of Royal Air Force or Royal Navy planes and seeking a reduction in this activity.
§ Mr. NeubertMy Department does not keep central records of complaints made about low-flying aircraft other than those involving activity in the United Kingdom low flying system. The total number of complaints received in 1988 is not yet available.